When Doctors Collide
by Jed Rhodes
Summary: Written for the anniversary. The Third, Fifth, Eighth and Tenth Doctors collide, and have to face a new plan by an old enemy...
1. Prologue One

**Prologue One**

The Doctor smiled at her. She loved that smile. It was the 'good times around the corner, just hop on the TARDIS' sort of smile. It made his face crease, but with the white hair and the velvet clothes, it fitted perfectly.

"Well Jo?" the Doctor asked. "Where to now?"

"Somewhere relaxing," Jo smiled. The Doctor nodded, and flicked a switch.

"I know the perfect place, just marvellous," he said. "No Daleks, no Cybermen, no Drashigs, no anything of any sort, except relaxation..."

--

The Doctor flicked a switch idly. His frock coat was hung up on the hatstand, leaving him in his cricket jumper, trousers and white shirt complete with question marks.

"Doctor," Tegan asked. "Where have you set the controls for?"

"Oh nowhere muchly," the Doctor said. "The Eye Of Orion."

"Oh?" Nyssa asked. "Where's that?"

"Near the centre of the galaxy, and rather relaxing too," the Doctor smiled. "Just perfect... it is relaxing, and calm, and peaceful, and..."

"All the things these travels around the galaxy haven't been," Tegan put in.

"Yes, exactly!" the Doctor smiled. "Just, completely, perfect..."

--

The Doctor was poking at the console. His hair bobbed slightly over his exposed shirtsleeves (his coat being hug over the other side of the console).

"Doctor," Fitz asked. "What's up?"

"Oh, the TARDIS is going somewhere," his amnesiac friend said. "Dunno where."

"What d'you mean you 'dunno where'?" Fitz asked, somewhat freaked out by this frank admission.

"Well, I might be totally off of the mark," the Doctor said, turning and smiling at him, "but I think the TARDIS is being dragged there."

"Dragged?" Fitz gulped.

"Yes, rather exciting, isn't it?" the Doctor smiled.

"D'you think I should wake Anji up?" Fitz asked, looking at his friend, and quite worried about his sanity.

"Probably a good idea," the Doctor smiled. "You know how annoyed she was after that incident with the crooked world... I'm not sure my eardrums have recovered yet."

--

The Doctor ran around the console. Rose laughed at him - he was always running, but he almost never needed to. His suit seemed designed for running, but his coat - draped over the railings - was desinged to flap.

"Where're we off now?" she asked him, between sprints.

"The Eye of Orion!" the Doctor grinned at her. "Fantastic place - ooh, I said fantastic..."

Without another word, he ran around the console again.

"Any particular reason its brilliant?" she asked.

"I said Ifantastic/I, the Doctor said, "not Ibrilliant/I. But, yeah there's positive ions, and all sort of other sciencey stuff and hills and ruins and..."

And so talking, he continued to press buttons.

--

On the green hills of the Eye Of Orion, four identical blue boxes materialised, with the same wheezing graoning sound. Four men popped thier heads out, and three men looked in horror at the other three.

"Oh no!" the Third Doctor exclaimed, popping his head back inside with a Venusian curse.

"Oh dear," the Fifth Doctor sighed, doing the same, minus the curse (because he weas far too nice about anything to swear).

"What?!" the Tenth Doctor yelled across at the Eighth. He just looked at the man in the brown suit and shrugged.

"Not where they wanted to be, probably," he said, smiling. "Ah well."


	2. Prologue Two

**Prologue Two**

The Ninth Doctor was walking back from the street where, even now, JFK had been shot and was being attended to.

It was always nice to witness an important historical event or two, and this was one of his favorites - relatively speaking. Not pleasant, by a long shot, but still - important, and life changing, and just interesting to be there. He had always wanted to see it... before the war. And now he had.

He was wearing a new leather jacket, and a turtleneck jumper. He had decided after a trail run that Victoriana just was not his thing, and then he had gone for this - but he still didn't think it was quite right - maybe a - maybe a v neck! Yeah, that sounded good.

"Excuse me?" came an upper class English accent from behind him. The Doctor turned, and fgound himself staring at a man, wearing a blue rosette on the lapel of a black suit, white shirt and black necktie.

"You!" he yelled, reaching for his sonic screwdriver, but before he could, the man had aimed a small device, and he knew nothing more...

--

The Fourth Doctor was staring idly into space. He was at a movie showing of 'The Matrix Revolutions' but so far it had proved... well, not his sort of thing. He was half considering yelling at the film to get interesting, but then he reminded himself that in this era, films didn't usually talk back.

He was alone, with no travelling companions to talk to, or have stimulating discussions with, or educate. Sometimes he liked it like this, but others... well, he didn't know. Life was boring. He craved a challenge.

"Excuse me?" a voice came form behind him. He spun and looked at the source of the voice, only to find himself facing a yellow light...

Then he knew nothing more.

--

The Sixth Doctor was sitting down on a beach. He was, at this kmoment, enjoying the sun, sea and sun of Ieh Mo Kei, a holiday resort, and was happy enough... as long as he was able to avoid becoming the Valeyard. That had been worrying him since the trial, and now all he ever seemed to be doing was avoiding trouble. Which wasn't really his style at all. Maybe it was safe now... it had been so long since the trial. He was cured, surely?

"Ahem," came a voice from above him.

"Oh what is it?" he snapped. "Can't you leave a man in peace?"

He looked up, to see a man holding a yellow glowing pen at him...

He knew no more.

--

The Second Doctor was waiting patiently for his trial to begin. He was in a cell, on Gallifrey, and had oly recently been captured. He knew full well what was going to happen, but he could prevent it, he must...

He was relatively certain that with the arguments he had, he could win the case, or at least get the arbitrary sentence of Death commuted to one of Exile - but even that sounded appalling.

"Excuse me, Doctor?" came a voice from his cell door. He looked up, to see an oddly familiar young man aimning a yellow pen like device at him.

He had time to exclaim "Oh My Giddy Aunt!" before he knew nothing more.

--

The First Doctor was storming down he corridors of the Citadel.

Why could those idiots on the council not see? He and Koschei were right - there was a universe out there, just waiting to be seen and felt and touched... he could not - would not - wait here to rot, before he went out there.

He had half a mind to ask his like minded Granddaughter to come with him, before a voice came from behind him.

"Theta Sigma?" it asked.

"My name," the Doctor said irritably, "is the Doctor..."

And then he saw the man with the blue rosette.

"What is this?!" he snapped. He was sure he had seen the man before, but he... no it couldn't be...

The man didn't say anything, but instead aimed a small silver device at the Doctor...

He knew nothing more.

--

On a grassy hillock, the Seventh Doctor waited for fate to come to him. He knew what was coming, and in fact had been prepared for a long while.

"Doctor!" came the long anticipated voice. The voice of his old friend, older enemy. The two of them were there, on the hill, but the Doctor wasn't looking at him - he didn't need to.

"Hello," he said. "I've been waiting."

The man didn't respond. The Doctor hadn't expected him to.

"You won't win you know," the Doctor added. "I know me too well for you to ever win."

"That's where you are wrong," the Master said. "This time Doctor, you can't stop me."

"Not me," the Doctor smiled. "But me."

The Master didn't reply, but the Doctor heard a noise and a moment later, he knew nothing more.


	3. Stir Your Stumps, Guys!

"What are you doing here?!" the Tenth Doctor asked his own past self.

"Sorry," the Eighth Doctor replied. "My ship is a bit temperamental - I think I might have been forced here, or dragged here. Was I not meant to be here?"

"Not when I am!" Ten said. This wasn't good. Judging by his appearance, and total lack of exclamation at the appearance of the Tenth Doctor (who he had already met in his Fifth Incarnation – wibbly wobbley timey wimey, and all that) meant that this was the Eighth Doctor at the time of his great amnesia, and he also seemed a bit like the post-Henrietta street version, without the slight pallor the pre Henrietta street version had.

At this point, the Fifth Doctor poked his head out of his door.

"Oh no," he said. "I wasn't hallucinating."

"Nope," the Tenth Doctor said.

"It really is you," Five added.

"Yep," said Ten. "But I've not met you yet."

"Oh?" Five said.

"Something to look forward to," Ten smiled. He really did – he had loved eing Five. He still hadn't found the blue suit, but he was searching.

Eight smiled politely, in his usual "I have no idea what you're on about, but I'll go along with it" kind of way.

At this point, the Third Doctor came out of his TARDIS, Jo Grant on his arm, cape flapping in the wind.

"Jehosophat," he cursed. "I thought I was dreaming."

"Hello to you too," Ten said. "I take it you…"

"Know that I'm talking to myself?" Three grinned. "Yes, I do." He rubbed his nose with his forefinger. "Jo," he said. "These fine gentlemen are another three of me."

"What?" Eight said, mildly curious. "I don't know who you are, old chap, but I am the Doctor, and I'm most definitely myself."

Three looked at him in shock for a moment, then Ten took his other selves aside.

"I'm from his future," he muttered. "He's suffering a bout of amnesia at the moment, so we'd best just indulge him…"

The others nodded comprehendingly.

"I have a question," Five added, after a moment. "Where are… the others?" he said at last, with a pointed look at Eight which he took the wrong way completely.

"Well I don't know," he said. "I don't know you people."

"We aren't interested in what you know or don't know old chap," Three said acidly. "Why don't you just pop off, eh?"

"No," Ten said suddenly. "We'll need him here."

"Why?" Five asked.

"Yes, why?" Eight added.

"Because if you were dragged here," Ten said, "then you're part of the problem, and that makes you a part of the solution."

"Solution to what?" Eight asked. "What's the problem?"

"Ah…" Five said, looking at his other selves for a moment. "Now. How do we explain this one…?"

"You are a member of a species that, when a member of said species dies, their body's cells regenerate, thus that person becomes a brand new person. I am the Third Doctor," Three said, annoyed at his other selves reticence, "and you two are…?"

"Five," Five said, smiling and waving.

"Ten," Ten said, "And you're Eight."

The Eighth Doctor looked at them and, for a moment, looked utterly bemused.

Then he burst out laughing.

"What?" Five asked.

"That," Eight said, "is like a stupid plot device someone came up with for a sixties kids show!"

The others looked at each other in dismay.

"You were joking of course," Eight smiled. "Right…?"

They looked at him as if he were a simpleton. He looked from one face to another, then stopped smiling.

"Ah."

--

Somewhere, in time and space, a man wearing a black suit with a blue rosette in its lapel smiled, as he looked at the six men dotted in the various display cases.

None of them were dead of course – he couldn't well kill them, that would upset the balance of everything and probably end with him being eaten or something – but they were in suspended animation.

It was this new Doctor that puzzled him – as far as he knew, there were only Eight Doctors, but this one was not a part of the established line.

"Maybe he regenerated?" the Master thought to himself. "Although – I don't know."

He smiled.

"Ah, Doctor," he thought, looking at the cases reserved for the Fifth and Third Doctors. "Soon you will be mine."

--

Once the Eighth Doctor had been convinced, the various Doctor had had to get their companions out for explanations.

Three had gone for the typical "they are some more of me" explanation. For Nyssa and Tegan however, it had been easy, as for Rose. Fitz and Anji got the talk from Ten…

"So not only does he have a time machine and two hearts and amnesia," Anji said, after Ten had finished explaining, "but he also turns into someone completely different when he dies."

"Yep," Ten smiled.

"He's nuts," Anji said.

"Definitely," Fitz smiled, "but that's the Doctor for you."

"Oh yes," Ten smiled, glad that Fitz was on side. "Tell you what, you guys go over to him – I'm talking to everybody now."

They nodded and went over to the shell shocked Eight.

"But…" he was stammering, "but… but I don't even like Cricket!"

Five rolled his eyes and said nothing, but Tegan and Nyssa smirked.

"So," Ten said, "since I'm the oldest, I say what happens now."

"Why you?" Three asked.

"'Cos he said so!" Rose yelled, always defensive of her Doctor.

"Shut up," Eight concurred. "Experience always counts."

"Says you, you don't remember any of yours," Three smirked.

"Doesn't mean it doesn't count," Eight said, mockingly, childishly.

"Please, you two!" Ten yelled. "Now, since we don't know why the others aren't here, we need to find them. I volunteer myself, since I'm the only one who knows what the all look like."

"More than fair," Five nodded.

"Now, to expedite matters, there's the fact that it's Eight who seems to be the centre of all this," Ten added.

"How do you figure that one out?" Tegan asked.

"Well, we all came here by choice," Three said, "but he was dragged, so presumably…"

"All of this was a trap to get him!" Jo exclaimed.

"Right!" Ten said. "Now, that means…"

"Hang on," Fitz said. "So if you're Ten, and these two are Three and Five, and our Doctor is Eight – where are the other Six?"

"Somewhere, presumably," Five smiled. "I imagine we'll find out."

"Quite," Three added.

"Can I continue?" Ten asked.

"By all means," Eight said, smiling now.

"So, I'll go in Eights' TARDIS," Ten outlined, "and we'll find the others. You two," he said, indicating Five and Three, "will wait here."

"Why?" Nyssa asked. Always the technically minded one, Ten remembered fondly.

"Because if I was dragged here," Eight said, "then presumably, someone is coming for me – so we'll give them more me than they can handle!"

"Exactamundo!" Ten said, then he grimaced. "Anyway – stir your stumps guys, we'd best be off! Allonsy!"

The others stirred. Three and Five sat down and started talking, while Eight and Ten headed for Eights' TARDIS, companions in tow. After a moment, the blue box dematerialised.

"Well," Five said. "Fancy a game of Cricket?"

Three, Jo, Nyssa and Tegan all groaned.


	4. Cold Day In Hell

The Tenth Doctor looked around the console room. He almost missed this look, he realised sadly. Almost missed the innocence of travel without knowledge.

The Eighth Doctor flicked a switch and looked at the Tenth expectantly.

Fitz and Anji were off in their rooms, probably having a rest, and Rose was off exploring – having exclaimed in surprise at how different this TARDIS console room was, she wanted to see what else was different.

The Doctors were all alone.

They'd come inside the TARDIS and set off almost half a relative hour ago and the Eighth Doctor had said nothing to his future self. Now, the Tenth Doctor decided to change that.

"You ok?" he asked. Eight didn't reply.

"Helloooooo?" Ten said, smiling. "Are you in there?"

There was a faint whisper, the barest of things, that the Tenth Doctor couldn't make out.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I said, 'know thyself,'" Eight said. He smiled softly, then turned back to his console.

"Well," Ten said, uncertain, "what do you mean by that? 'Cos I'm right here if you want to know me…"

"Oh, that's not it, is it?" Eight said, looking at his future self with mild annoyance. "It's just, I never thought too much about who I am, who I'm meant to be. You know, all you others, what I am, what I've done, and what I'm meant to be doing. My purpose. While all I know is that I am the Doctor."

"Why is that so bad?" the Tenth Doctor said.

"I don't know if I'm being true to myself," Eight admitted reluctantly. "When I got the TARDIs back, I just wanted to explore… I wanted to…

"Become the torch," the Tenth Doctor smiled at him. He was repeating his own selfs words, but he didn't care. "You thought it was your job to be the light, to carry yourself out amongst the stars, go forward with all your – our – beliefs. In other words, acting just like we always have, Doctor."

His emphasis on that last word made the Eighth Doctor smile, and he turned back to his console with a grin.

--

The Fifth Doctor bowled his past self out again, and whooped. The Third Doctor sat down and sighed.

"Doctor, can we not play Cricket for a bit?" Tegan asked.

"Oh, can't we have another over?" Five smiled. "I'm sure you'll do better with practice."

"We've been playing Cricket for three hours, dear boy," Three pointed out. "It's not going to make any more time go any faster."

"And why not?" Five exclaimed. "Why should it not? We're all having fun aren't we?"

"Doctor, we are having about as much fun as we did on Logopolis," Tegan snapped. The Ffth Doctor sighed, and sat down, pulling his Panama hat over his eyes.

"If you insist," he grumbled. A moment, later, there was a scuffling noise, and he shot up, to see Three and their companions being accosted by what appeared to be three humans.

"Nee Hai!" Three yelled throwing one foe over his shoulder with the Venusian aikido. To his horror, his foes arm came off in his hand – it was a robot!

"Doctor!" Jo Grant yelled. Tegan was kicking a robot in various unseemly places, but being a mechanoid, it didn't notice, and knocked her out.

"If only I had a kettle and some string!" the Fifth Doctor exclaimed, then he snapped his fingers and rummaged in his pockets, before getting three cricket balls out, and standing well back, then he drew in a deep breath, and shouted.

"Excuse, me, you robot chaps!"

They looked at him, and stopped doing anything, just for a moment.

"Ah good," Five smiled, before throwing his cricket balls faster than the eye could follow, thwacking into each of the robots in turn, knocking their heads off. They blundered about for a bit, then one by one, collapsed to the ground.

"Howzat?!" he yelled, grinning. Three and the others looked at him in mild shock.

"That… that was…" Tegan stammered.

"Let me never hear you complain about my playing Cricket again," Five smiled.

"Come now, Doctor, she's only human," a familiar – too ­familiar – voice called. "And you do go on a bit."

The Fifth Doctor turned, and found himself facing the man in the blue rosette.

"You!" he yelled.

"Jehosophat, I should have guessed you'd be around," the Third Doctor concurred, running up to support his other self.

"And you as well!" the Master smiled. "Oh, what a pleasure finally destroying you shall be. Alas that it will have to be cut short, until I find your other selves…"

"You never will!" the Third Doctor snarled, reaching inside one of his inside pockets – and drawing out two swords. He threw one to his Fifth self.

"Tegan, Nyssa, Jo, into the TARDIS!" Five yelled.

"But," Jo began.

"No time for it!" Three yelled, as the Master reached inside his own tunic, and threw his jacket off.

"But," Tegan started.

"No time for that either!" Five yelled, shrugging off his coat. "Just go!"

They ran as the Master saluted his foes.

"Prepare to be humbled, Doctors," he smiled.

"It will be a cold day in hell before I lose to you," the Third Doctor promised, saluting as well, before jumping to the attack.

--

The Eighth Doctors' TARDIS materialised inside the spaceship, vworping into existence once more. The Tenth Doctor popped his head out of the door.

"Well," he said, walking out. "This is interesting." Eight walked out behind him and whistled appreciatively.

"This is very nice," he agreed with his future self. "I'll admit, it's a tad rusty, and could do with some better lighting…"

"What are we doing here?" came Roses voice behind them. She was dressed in her usual gear, updated with one of Anji's coats.

"We're here because the Time Trace of our other selves is here," Eight said, then he grinned. "Ooh, I'm getting the hang of this!"

"Well, don't get cocky, kid," Ten said. "There's a lot to be done yet."

He walked further into the ship, searching, searching...

"Look!" Fitz called. "Over here!"

The Doctors ran over to Fitz, and gasped in horror at what they saw.

There were Eight men there, locked in glass capsules… three they didn't know, though Ten could guess who they were, but the other Six were recognisable. One, Two, Four, Six, Seven and Nine.

"What do we do?" Eight asked him.

"We let everyone out except those three," Ten said, indicating the three unknowns. "I don't want to have more of a paradox than is already happening…"

"It's you…" Rose was saying, touching the glass of the capsule that Nine was in. "It's really you…"

"It's him before I met you, Rose," Ten said. "Do not reveal anything about you to him once we've woken him up."

"Oh, but you're not going to wake him up, Doctor," a new voice came from behind them. They all turned, to see the Master, aiming his TCE at them, and – for some reason – a pair of pinking shears in his other hand.

"Too long have I waited for my revenge," he smiled, his blue rosette shining. "Too long, through too much hatred, too much death. Now, at lat, my victory is at hand! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

And laughing demonically, he aimed the TCE at them, and pressed the button…


	5. That Irritating Black Object

The Third Doctor spun his sword, parrying three badly thought out attacks by his foe. In truth, this was what he'd been missing from his life, all this time. The thrill of the duels with the Master. He'd not had a decent meeting with his old foe in years. Decades even. Oh, this… he knew in his heart he shouldn't enjoy it, but he did…

--

The Fifth Doctor had felt that as well, once. But he remembered Logopolis. Castrovalva. Traken. Tremas. He was a man tempered by the Death that the Master had dealt out. He had never, ever truly hated his foe before, but here, now, he fought with all the righteous hatred of a man who was right, beyond all things. He was good and his foe was evil, and now they would end it…

--

"Come on," Ten said, looking at his foe in disgust. "Finish it."

The Master smiled at the Doctors. Then he looked at Eight.

"He doesn't seem to be very good at this, does he?" the Master smiled. Then he pressed a button, and then, a little flag popped out of the end, saying "ZAP!!".

And then, without any warning at all, he burst into song.

"#Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun! The Japanese don't care to – the Chinese wouldn't dare to…"

"Yes, that's enough, Noel," Eight smiled. The Master grinned, and tugged at his beard, which fell away with a soft sound, and Noel Coward smiled at them.

"What the hell?" Rose snapped.

"No…" Ten said, looking at Noel in shock. "No, that is not possible…"

"I'd say it is," Eight said. "Noel Coward, and his magic pinking shears…"

"Noel!" Fitz smiled.

"Noel?" Rose said. "Who the hell is Noel…?"

Eight shot her a filthy look, then turned and shook Noels hand.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm here to talk to you," the old playwright said. "Specifically about that rogue the Master."

"What about him?" Ten asked.

"Well, terrible shame really, but this fellow is trying to erase you out of existence, Doctor," Noel said.

"Oh, is that all?" Eight said. "Oh, I've been through worse. Much, much worse."

For a moment, his thoughts lingered on a little street. On a massive chamber, burning. On a legion of apes…

"Yes, but this time, it's affecting all of your other selves, for some reason," Noel said. "All of them. For some reasono, it started when he tried getting you, and mis-shot…"

"Oh," Ten said, suddenly. "Oh, no… oh, I get it. I get it."

"What?" Rose asked.

"It's… well, you…" Ten stammered. "Oh, it's complicated."

"Then begin at the beginning," Eight said, "work your way through the middle, then when you get to the end, I suggest you stop."

Ten looked at him, then ran a hand through his hair. Then he whooshed through his mouth.

--

Five parried another bad shot from the Master, and sighed as he stepped back. Three stepped back as well.

"We appear to be evenly matched, Doctors…" the Master grinned. "Alas, then that this was all a ploy."

He lifted a hand, and removed his face. Beneath it was a quivering mass of wires and robotics, and it grinned at them. Then it pointed behind them. They turned, to see the Fifth Doctors TARDIS vanishing slowly…

"NO!" Five yelled. "Tegan! Nyssa!"

The robotic Master laughed, then with a sudden movement Three turned and stabbed it through the chest.

"Stupid machine," he snapped. "Come on young man," he added, running for his own TARDIS… at least he thought it was his own TARDIS. He entered quickly, his other self behind him.

Then, the TARDIS dematerialised, leaving only one other left.

Then Tegan popped her head out of it, Jo Grant walking out behind her.

"Doctor?" she asked. "Where are you?!"

"He's sodded off…" Tegan said. "Oh hell…"

--

"There was… a thing, called Gallifrey meantime," the Tenth Doctor began explaining. "It was, in real terms, a… thing. A thing that kept Gallifrey away from everything else – temporally. The Time Lords had their separate timeline, from which they could observe… everything. No alternates, no parallels. One Time Lord race. Now though…"

"No Gallifrey, no nothing," Eight said.

"Yeah," Ten agreed. "Before, Time Lords separate selves were kept away. Now though, I could meet my Fifth self just by crashing into him. I will, actually."

He grinned for a moment, in recognition, before a vworp vworp noise started, and another blue box materialised.

"Oh, not another of me," Ten said, annoyed. "I told them to wait."

Then the door opened, and the man with the blue rosette stepped out.

"Oh," Noel said. "That isn't me."

"Bugger," Eight said. The Master smiled.

--

Three flicked another switch, and looked around.

"There's something different," he said.

"Because it isn't our TARDIS," Five said. "It's Ten's."

"How do you know?" Three asked, looking around the green walls and at the green console.

"Because I've been in here before," Five said, looking around. "All his love to long ago, he said. Well, will say. We haven't met him yet… did you remember to put the defences up?"

Then, without warning, a crash shook the TARDIS, and the Doctors fell to the floor, before trying to reactivate the TARDIS defences – and nothing worked, but at least the shaking stopped.

Then a man in a collarless shirt, black pants and waistcoat ran past him, flicking switches annoyingly.

"Who are you?" Three asked. The man looked at him, then grimaced.

"Oh bloody hell," the man said. "What are you doing here?"

"This is our TARDIS," Five said. "Who are you?"

"Oh, yeah," the man said. "I remember this, you guys are on the way to try and stop me…"

"You're the Master?!" Three yelled, drawing his sword again.

"Oh leave off," the Master said. "Look, just get us out of this, one of you!"

"Why should we?" Three asked.

"Why shouldn't we just kill you while you're here?" Five asked.

"Because that isn't your job," the Master said, angry. "Your job is to go do what you do. Go after me."

"Why do you want us to do that?" Three asked.

"I don't," The Master said, sulking slightly, "but I'd rather have a fight with my version than Adam Ant and the Cricketer."

Three bristled, but Five nodded tightly, then he went to the console and looked daggers at the Master, before beginning a sequence.

"Be seeing you," the Master smiled. The Doctor flicked various switches, and left a little commentary that Three barely heard, and then, the Master vanished.

"How did you do that so fast?" Three asked.

"Same trick twice," Five said, annoyed. "'Be seeing you', arrogant incarnation."

Five looked at his past self, and decided to avoid the obvious comment.

--

"Time to die, Doctor," the Master said.

"Oh really?" Noel said, looking from his friends to the evil Time Lord. "You really think you're going to win this time?"

"Who are you?" the Master asked him, angrily.

"Noel Coward, playwright, dilettante, and expert at Pinking shears," he smiled, raising them, and cutting a hole through the Very Fabric, and smiling.

"Ah, Master," Ten said, looking at him, grabbing Roses hand. "Just one thing. Bye!"

Eight pushed Fitz and Anji through, then looked at the hole for a moment. Voices called through to him, but he closed it with a solemn look in. Then, his face turned to the Master.

"We've met," he said.

"And you look so much better than last time," the Master smiled.

"You didn't kill me then, I don't have any reason to believe you'll kill me now," the Doctor told him.

"True, I didn't kill you then," the Master said, "but that's because I didn't have to. You had a duty to do."

"Yes – 'go after that irritating black object,' you said," the Doctor smiled slightly.

"And you didn't," the Master said.

"How do you know?" the Doctor asked. The Master smiled, and brought up his device.

"Because I did," he said. Then, a hole opened in time and space, and something came out…


	6. We're Getting There

"What have you done?!" Ten shouted at the closed door that Noel had opened, and shut again.

"Closed the portal I opened," Noel said, matter of factly. "He didn't –"

"Open it!" Ten yelled. "Now!"

"Yeah, Noel, open it!" Fitz yelled. "You can't let him die!"

Anji was looking annoyed as well. Rose didn't understand what all the fuss what about, and decided to say so, but no one wanted to listen.

"I didn't want to, but he gave us no choice!" Noel yelled.

"Open that portal again!" Ten yelled.

"Why don't you leave him to it?" Rose asked. Ten rounded on her, looking shocked. "I mean if he's you, can't he look after himself?"

"He's amnesiac," Ten said, looking stunned and furious. "He doesn't know who he is."

"He knows that he's the Doctor," Anji said, surprising everyone. "That's enough, isn't it?"

Ten looked at her, and then at Rose, and then at the nodding Fitz and the silent Noel, and for once in his life, he had no answer.

--

The Eighth Doctor stared at the hole in time and space, and beyond… who knew? It looked like a…black sun…

"Oh no, you didn't," he said, almost scared. "Tell me you didn't."

"I did," the Master grinned. "I did. Prepare to die, Doctor."

The portal opened further, and the black shadow opened out. The Doctor stared at it, and smiled.

"Come one then!" he bellowed. "Come on!"

Because suddenly he had a thought. He stared at it, and somehow was reminded of so many times that he had stood against the monsters.

Besides, he remembered something else. He remembered the noise his TARDIS made.

And he could hear it.

Yet another blue Police Box materialised, with the same cacophony. And out of it came the Third and Fifth Doctors. Five was smiling, but Three was deadly serious.

"It's time we had a talk," he said to the Master.

"No, it's time you died," the Master snarled. "I haven't got time for you…"

"What have you done?" Five said, looking at it in shock and awe. "You've…"

"Opened a rift into the babewyn dimension," the Eighth Doctor said, staring at it. "The realm of hatred and death, created millennia ago."

"Babewyn dimension?" Five queried. "That's primitive Earth terminology."

"I was on primitive Earth when I first encountered it," Eight said. "And now, he decides to open it, and in the process he'll destroy reality."

"That sounds about par the course," Three said. "Destroy the universe and let me sort the mess out."

"I don't want you to sort this out," the Master smiled. "I want you, in no uncertain terms, to die."

He held up his laser screwdriver…

--

"Even if he is me," Ten said, "he can't fight the Master alone."

"You have to let him" Noel said. "You have to realise that this is not your fight."

"Who made you in charge of that decision?!" Ten yelled.

"Who made you?" Noel replied cuttingly.

"Look, we can't just leave him," Fitz said. "Can't you… I dunno… open the portal again?"

"I already tried," Noel said shaking his head. "We can't go there."

"There should still be your other selves on the Eye of Orion, shouldn't there?" Anji asked. "We can just go there and get a TARDIS!"

Ten looked at her, and then grinned.

"Oh, yes! Brilliant! Molto Bene!" he yelled. Then he grabbed Noel. "Noel? Can you do it?"

Noel smiled. Then, he took out the pinking shears, and sliced a hole in reality.

"Goodbye, Doctor. Miss Tyler, Miss Kapoor, Mr Kreiner," he said, nodding at each of them. "Good luck."

"We'll need it," Ten said, before diving through the portal. Rose smiled at him, the followed the Doctor. Fitz and Anji followed.

--

The Doctors stared down the barrel of the Laser screwdriver for a long time.

"Well?" Three said. "Do it then!"

"Your forgiveness Doctor," the Master smiled. "I'm… trying to make my limbs move."

"Oh?" Five said, looking mildly interested.

"Yes," the Master said. He now looked mildly annoyed. "I think something is wrong."

No, nothing, a voice said. Just me.

"And who are you?" Eight said, but he already knew.

I've been watching you, the voice said. A long while. I think it's time you died. You destroyed my interdimensional army. And now you'll pay.

"Did I?" Eight smiled. "Oh, terribly sorry."

I'm sure you are sorry, but you are going to die. Now, preferably.

"I was going to kill him," the Master said. "I was going to kill him, and then you stopped me, and now, he's going to…"

--

"Doctor, what the hell…?!"

Tegan was annoyed now. Nyssa was sitting calmly, and Jo Grant was doing exactly what she did best - making tea.

Fitz looked around the small console room.

"This is the cricketer guys?" Fitz said.

"Yep," Ten said, pressing buttons.

"Very BBC Micro," Anji said, disapprovingly.

"Well," Ten said, "I was younger, and I liked the eighties…"

"Well, that doesn't matter," Rose said. "All that matters is getting to that Master blokes control room thingie..."

"And we're nearly there..." Ten added. "Why did the others leave you?"

Jo looked at the others.

"The Master came," she said. "They had a fight with him, but then the other TARDIS was taken - and the Doctors took another one. It's all very confusing."

"I'm sure it is for you," Nyssa said. "But I get all of it perfectly."

Ten smiled. Nyssa always was the smart one. He almost missed her, but then he remembered why she had left, and he remembered that she had left for reasons that were just and right and true.

He just hoped that he could get there in time.


	7. Well? Did You Miss Us?

"What are you, exactly?" the Eighth Doctor asked.

**Something**, the object said, mysteriously.

"Well, isn't that informative," Five muttered. Three said nothing, but glared with extreme contempt at the thing. It was forcing its way through the hole in reality – so that said hole was black, with just a single, white pinprick to emphasise where the thing was searching.

**You**, it said to the Master. **You want him dead as well.**

"I was about to kill him!" the Master snarled.

"Of course you were," the Eighth Doctor smiled, looking at him with a grin. "Just keep telling yourself that."

**Quiet, Doctor**, the object said. **I intend now to destroy you.**

"Oh, is that all?" Eight said, "That's rather predictable, really. I mean," he continued, sheepishly, "not that you are a bad villain – but you're a bit... naff. I mean, the whole 'giant eye' thing is far too well done."

"Brilliant idea," Three muttered. "Evil extra dimensional being, and you're antagonising it."

"Well," Five said, looking at the general area where the being was. "How do we know youi're evil?"

"It presided over a realm where evil ape-spirit creatueres tried to invade and annihilate Earth," Eight said. Five blanched.

"Well," he said after a moment. "That is a worry."

**When you've all quite finished?** The being said.** As I was saying, I now intend to kill you – slowly, painfully, and with a great deal of screaming...**

--

"Right, so," the Doctor smiled, flipping another switch. "That's fixed, we're on silent running so we can land without being detected."

"Have we got a plan or are we winging it?" Anji asked.

"He's the Doctor, what do you think?" Fitz grinned. "He never has a plan!"

"Oi!" Rose said, half annoyed. "My Doctor does."

"And I do," the Doctor smiled.

"What, you actually have a plan, you're not just improvising?" Anji smiled.

"Oh, we have got a plan. We have indeed got, a plan," the Doctor smiled. "It is a very good plan. A fantastic plan. Ooh, I said fantastic!" he added, grinning even more. He flicked the final switch and the TARDIS' time rotor stopped moving with a resounding thump. Then he bounded outside.

Fitz hesistated for one second, then followed him. Anji sighed, and went out as well. Tegan and Nyssa were close behind, looking resolute, but determined, and finally, Rose grinned, and ran out.

--

There was a row of tubes with Doctors in them, each one in stasis. There was Eleven, as well. And twelve, and thirteen... but the Tenth Doctor would be setting a delay for them, so they would not be awake while he was here. He had no desire to know more of his future.

He looked along the row of Doctors, each already ensnared by the Master. The First Doctor, younger, in his Gallifreyan robes, the Second, in his black coat. Four in his grey coat, and his scarf – oh, that scarf - Six in his mad clothes, Seven in his pullover, Nine in that jacket... all the men he had been, all the men he was. He remembered that multicoloured coat with a smile. That coat had been in his wardrobe for years, and he loved it.

And that scarf! Oh, Four was brilliant. Ten knew that in a lot of ways, he was but the reincarnation of Four and Five together, but he liked that. He liked that a lot.

Nine as well... born in battle, bloodshed. And yet... as the last member of a dead race, that body had been so alive...

And then there was Seven. The Great Manipulator. His moody adolescence. He had been so dark, so merciless, and yet... and yet he had been on the side of angels then.

As he was now.

And he would be forever.

Behind him he could sense the others, Rose and Fitz and Anji and Tegan and Nyssa... and then, his smile grew. He spun around and grinned at them. Rose grinned back, recognising what was coming now.

"Ladies and Gents," he smiled, "the Doctors are in!"

He turned to the control panel... and flicked a switch...

--

Something is wrong!!!

"Oh?" Eight said, genuinely surprised.

**Yes! Something… too many minds! Something wrong!**

"Yes, well," a booming voice said, a smile easily heard in its depths. "That might well be me."

The Eighth, Third and Fifth Doctors turned, and smiled – to see the other Seven standing there, happy as larry.

"Well?" Ten grinned. "Did you miss us?"


	8. The Eleven Doctors

"This is where I take my leave," the Master said, running back to the other side of his room, but before he could get very far, he was hit by a bolt of pure energy from the rift, and collapsed.

**Good riddance.**

"Well, would you look at that," Two whistled. "A big rift thingymabob. Oh my giddy aunt..."

**Oh, bloody hell... **the thing said. **I do not believe this – ten of you! Well, **it added, its telepathic tone more amiable. **I guess this just means I get to kill you more than once...**

The Tenth, Ninth, Eighth and Seventh doctors smiled, and held up their Sonic Screwdrivers.

"Setting nine," Ten said.

"Just what I was about to say," Eight smiled.

They held up their screwdrivers, but a bolt of energy drove them back, into a wall.

"Damn!" Nine swore. "This isn't good."

"I'll say," Ten groaned. It was clear they were out for the count. Rose rushed over to him.

Behind them, Six and Four looked at each other, then grinned.

"It's nice to see curly hair doesn't die off with me," Four says.

"It's nice to know my sense of style has improved," Six nodded, and then together, they walked up to the Object, standing directly to face it.

"I say," Four said, "hello there. You really ought not to be here, you know."

**You...**

"I hope you weren't about to interrupt, I'm not finished," Six put in. "You, quite simply put, are a menace, and so I have to stop you."

"You think we'll not try to defeat you, you evil creation?" Four added smugly. "I mean, really... I faced Davros in his heyday –"

"No, I faced Davros in his heyday, you faced him in his low day," Six snapped.

"Hm," Four said, annoyed. "Well anyway, let's just get the old sonic out..." he got out his sonic screwdriver. Six smiled and got out his sonic lance.

"What on Earth is that?" Four asked.

"Sonic Lance," Six replied. "perfect replacement for a sonic screwdriver. More dangerous too."

"Why do you want it to be dangerous?" Four asked.

**If I might interrupt... **the being said, but they ignored it.

"Unlike you," Six sneered, acidly, "I have the backbone to do some things that might not be generally considered morally palatable f I have no other choice!"

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Four said, outraged.

"That means, you could have destroyed the Daleks," Six snapped, "but instead you let their evil live on, and that has led to countless millions suffering!"

**Excuse me, **the being said, tetchily, **but -**

"I did what I thought was right!" Four snapped. "I didn't think I had the right to..."

"You didn't have the right? Didn't have the right?! DIDN'T HAVE THE RIGHT?!?!"Six bellowed. "So you had the right to let millions die, but not to kill a few measley mutants?!"

"Why you brash, ignorant -" Four began, but then they were both thrown backwards by the creature.

**Bloody morons, **it said. **I haven't got time to listen to you argue.**

Two, however, had snuck up behind it while they were arguing and placed a device which ought to have closed the rift – but when it went off, it didn't. He looked dumbfounded for a moment.

"Oh dear," he said.

**Yes,** the thing said, before he too was blasted backwards. Three, Five and Seven had come together by this point, and were staring at the creature (Seven having recovered sufficiently to do so).

"Now!" Seven yelled, and a bolt of pure chronotron energy rammed into the rift, directed by their Time Lord minds from the very heart of the Vortex itself – but the rift stayed open. It held, and the Doctors were zapped painfully by another Chronotron bolt, more powerful than theirs, that dropped them, unconscious, to the ground.

**Idiots,** the thing said. **Morons. Do you think you can stop me so easily? Do you think for one moment that I would allow myself to be defeated by the likes of you?!**

Then One – a slightly younger slightly less cynical One – stepped forward, all young arrogance.

"Get out of this universe," he said. "Before I make you."

**What can you do, least of all your lives?**

"Do I take it then that you do not intend to leave peaceably?" One asked.

**You can, indeed, no answer: What can you do?**

"This," the Doctor said, before pressing a button on a control panel – instantly, the rift began closing, sucking the little hole of nothingness further closed by the second...

**Wh – what?!**

"While that lot were distracting you, I set up a command that would close your rift," One said. "Good riddance."

The thing screamed, and then vanished in a flash of light as the breach closed. The other Doctors slowly stood to their feet, and then all of them converged on One.

"Brilliant!" Ten grinned.

"Fantastic!" Nine added.

"You were amazing," Five smiled.

"I couldn't have done it better myself," Six said. "Well, I could – but not much."

"You can tell he's me, can't you?" Four said to Rose, who looked up and tsked. Four shrugged and clapped.

Two and Three looked at each other.

"Scarecrow," Three said.

"Fancy pants," Two replied, before moving off.

Seven walked over to Eight. Eight looked at him, then his eyes widened.

"You!" he said. "The Scottish fellow!"

"What?" Seven asked. Eight smiled some more, then suddenly blanched and moved away from his past self.

"Don't mind him," Ten smiled. "He's just a little amnesiac. He's having nightmares about you."

Seven looked at Ten, then smiled.

"Latest model?"

"Sort of yeah," Ten grinned.

"Going well?" Seven asked.

"Sort of yeah."

Seven's smile suddenly dropped, and he looked deadly serious.

"Never get complacent," he said, darkly. "Never get arrogant. Never get cocky. Never give an inch, because if you do..."

He left the sentence hanging, and strolled of to talk to Six. Ten knew his past self was a little melodramatic, but that was... something else. He shrugged, and wandered off, before noticing something.

"Where's the Master?"

--

Deep in the vortex, the Master's TARDIS flew... for once again, he would be forced to hide himself.

He rammed his fist down, and flew further and further and further... the Time Lords were gone. He had failed in his attempts to destroy the Doctor... and he knew that soon the effects of the Daleks War with the Time Lords would be felt. That future, the one where the Time Lords were destroyed by Daleks, was reset, now that the Paradox of the Faction was gone. The Master might not be the best at temporal engineering, but he was good enough to know when to quit. The Time Lords had resurrected him for their war, but now they were gone.

The Master thought about it for a long time, then he activated the arch.

--

Ten smiled, as he walked around the room. He was so caught up in the reunion between his other selves, that he didn't notice the youngish man in the corner.

"Hello!" he said. The man looked at him, then smiled and shrugged.

"Hello," he said.

"One of our companions?" Ten asked.

"Sort of," the young man said. "Bit of an adventure, this, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Ten grinned. "So, which one are you the companion of?"

"Er..." the young man suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Well, best not to say, eh?"

Ten nodded, then did a double take as the boy walked off. He couldn't be...

"Oh, wow," Ten smiled. "That'll be fun."

He walked over to his other selves, to keep the meet and greet going.

--

Rose looked around at all the different Doctors. They were all different, all weird.

"Hello!" one of them said to her, holding out a hand – tallish, curly blonde hair, horrendous coat. "I'm the Doctor, lovely to meet you!"

"In't everyone?" Rose muttered. "I knew he – you – could change, but this is a little extreme."

"Oh?" the Doctor said. "How so?"

"How can you be Ten different people?" she asked him. "How can you stand it?"

He shrugged.

"Technically, we're Thirteen different people. I just try to think of us as one single Doctor," he explained.

"I knew him," Rose said, indicating the old Doctor – her old Doctor, currently talking to the short one in the horrible pullover. "He died to save me. I barely got used to the new one..."

"Well, if it's any consolation, no one ever does," Six smiled. "Peri certainly didn't. Enjoy it while you can."

Rose looked at him.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Well," he told her, "you'll have to go home, eventually."

Rose shook her head violently, and stepped back.

"No," she said. "No. I'll stay with him forever."

The Doctor looked at her sadly.

"How I wish that were possible, my dear," he said. "Ah, well."

He smiled, bowed slightly, and moved off.

--

"I like your suit," Seven said to Ten.

"Well, I liked that pullover," Ten said. "All good."

"It is a tad extreme," Seven admitted. "Ace never said so – but she thought so, you could tell."

"Well," Ten smiled. "Might I suggest a waistcoat? Something in red...?"

"Maybe," Seven smiled. "I meant it. Never give an inch."

"Of course not," Ten said, all seriousness. "I never intend to. The universe will be in safe hands, don't you worry."

"I'm not worried," Seven smiled. "They'll be my hands one day."

--

A long time later, the Doctors finally got to saying goodbye. The Master had brought their TARDIS's here, for some reason. Having said goodbye, all the Doctors were now on their way back through time, back to where they had been...


	9. Never The End

--

The First Doctor looked around the TARDIS bays, and smiled.

"This is my future," he said. "My future."

He walked up to the first TARDIs he could see. He opened the door. He stepped inside.

He didn't notice the little girl creeping up and coming in behind him, softly entering with him, until it was too late...

--

He is the Second Doctor.

He stands before his people, who seek to condemn him for his interference in other worlds.

And he is not afraid.

He has seen the future, and knows that he will live on, right wrongs, and beat back all evils, until... well, no one wants to know the absolute end of a story before they read it, do they?

--

The Third Doctor looked at his TARDIS console room, and smiled.

"Where now?" he asks his faithful companion. Jo Grant stands by his side, and smiles happily.

"Anywhere," she tells him. He smiles down at her, and nods, then sets random co-ordinates, and plunges them off into who knows where...

--

The Fourth Doctor walked down the road.

'What I need,' he thought, 'is a break. No monsters, no madmen, no Master. Just me, on my own, travelling, happily by myself. End of. I don't need anyone.'

And so thinking, happy with this new idea, he enters the TARDIs and pulls the dematerialisation lever, not sure where he is going.

'Yes, this will work,' he thinks. 'Just me, the TARDIS, and the open universe...'

And the ship materialises, and he walks out, and across it is a world covered in jungle and sand, a world vaguely familiar. He doesn't know where he is. But he's damned if it's where he's meant to be...

--

The Fifth Doctor sighed.

'I loved being you,' he remembers. That young, impossibly enthusiastic body. Impossibly brave, and noble, and true.

And that body missed him. What was so special about this fifth body of his? Too young, too impotent, too filled with self doubt...

Ah. The Doctor put his spectacles back on, and smiled. That was it. Lose the self doubt. He was the Doctor, that was all that mattered. And if he was going to be the one who his future self remembered with such joy, he'd better start proving himself.

--

I am the Doctor, he thinks.

He is the Sixth Doctor, full of doubt and hiding it behind an abrasive manner and a coat of many hues, behind Shakespeare and declamation, and grandstanding.

Maybe, he thinks, if I cut that out, I'll be better. And then he smiles, realising the futility of the notion. He is who he is.

And judging by his future, that's actually something to be proud of.

--

The Ka Faraq Gatri remembers a time when he was merely a Time Lord. A traveller, who fought evil, righted wrongs, beat back injustice. And he remembers how much he loved that. And he remembers how much he missed that.

He studies the waistcoat in the mirror carefully. Blood red, set off by a dark brown-y yellow coat, and the same old trousers, the old hat.

He smiles, and for the first time in he doesn't know how long, he looks forward to the adventure, not the work, as he had previously thought of it.

Yes. Adventure.

That would be fun.

--

The Doctor – he doesn't remember which one – thinks about all the men he is. Was. Will be. Damn, Time Travel is confusing.

He looks up.

What has changed? He asks himself.

Nothing.

Right then.

--

He killed his whole race.

And yet, seeing them, he knows that he is still the Doctor. Still the man he was.

And as the Ninth Doctor descends into London, to save the world, and he feels no fear.

--

He will die one day.

He accepts this.

Not that he is too happy about this.

But as he stands on a new world with his Rose, he doesn't care.

"How long are you gonna stay with me?" he asks her.

She looks at him, and smiles.

"Forever."

--

And the Eleventh Doctor reflects on the journey he now has before him, the new life he has to lead.

And he _slams_ at the TARDIS controls...


End file.
